When last I tuned in, Roy Fritts and Rick Prescott (the big-wigs of the now-defunct National Trust Services) had been charged with two counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, and their trial was scheduled for November of this year (2007).
Has this changed at all?
Someone has e-mailed me claiming that Rick Prescott is now promoting "Private Family Foundations" (i.e. charitable trusts), which were one of the components of the old NTS scheme. It seems strange that he'd be engaging in this kind of business with his trial looming so close.
Fritts, Roy, and Prescott, Rick
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Fritts, Roy, and Prescott, Rick
I got conned by NTS, e.i.e.i.o.
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The Operative
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1:05-cr-30067-AA USA v. Fritts et al
The jury trial is set for 11/20/2007 at 9:00am.
Fritts has been charged with two counts of tax evasion, one count of witness tampering and one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
Prescott has been charged with two counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
The jury trial is set for 11/20/2007 at 9:00am.
Fritts has been charged with two counts of tax evasion, one count of witness tampering and one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
Prescott has been charged with two counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
Light travels faster than sound, which is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak.
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The Operative
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It appears that they are in settlement negotiations.
court docket wrote: 10/16/2007 99 Minutes of Proceedings: Telephone Motion Hearing before Judge Ann L. Aiken as to LeRoy E. Fritts, Roderick Alyn Prescott held on 10/16/2007 regarding Motion to Continue Trial Date[95] filed by Defendant Roderick Alyn Prescott and Motion to Continue Trial and to Extend Period for Filing of Pretrial Motions)93 filed by Defendant LeRoy E. Fritts. Parties agree to refer case to Judge Coffin for settlement negotiations. Ordered trial date of 11/20/07 before Judge Aiken and status conference set 10/29/07 before Judge Clarke are vacated. A further telephone conference will be scheduled to reset the trial date in the event the case is not resolved. Ordered Defendant Fritts' Motion to Continue Trial 93 and Defendant Prescott's Motion to Continue Trial [95] are denied as moot. Counsel Present for Plaintiff: Jay Nanavati, Tim Stockwell.Counsel Present for Defendant: Steven Jacobson, Richard Fredericks.(Court Reporter Kristi Anderson) (lae) (Entered: 10/16/2007)
10/23/2007 100 Scheduling Order as to LeRoy E. Fritts, Roderick Alyn Prescott : Settlement Conference is set for 11/26/2007 at 11:00AM in Eugene before Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Coffin. Defendant Fritts is allowed to appear by telephone. Counsel shall have a telephone number so that defendant may be reached throughout the conference. Ordered prosecutor Nanavati is allowed to appear by telephone. by Judge Thomas M. Coffin (cw) (Entered: 10/23/2007)
11/14/2007 101 Scheduling Order as to LeRoy E. Fritts, Roderick Alyn Prescott Settlement Conference is reset feom 11/26/07, to 12/19/2007 at 02:30PM in Eugene before Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Coffin. The proscutor and the defendants may appear by telephone. Counsel shall provide the clerk with telephone numbers. by Judge Thomas M. Coffin (cw) (Entered: 11/14/2007)
12/19/2007 102 Minutes of Proceedings:In Chambers Conference before Judge Thomas M. Coffin as to LeRoy E. Fritts, Roderick Alyn Prescott. Settlement negotiations ongoing.Counsel Present for Plaintiff: Jay Nanavati.Counsel Present for Defendant: Steven Jacobson, Richard Fredericks. (cw) (Entered: 12/19/2007)
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Re: Fritts, Roy, and Prescott, Rick
Update: LeRoy Fritts was scheduled to be tried in September 2008, but the trial was canceled as a result of his death in June. Roderick Prescott's trial has been delayed to March 2009.
Demo.
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Re: Fritts, Roy, and Prescott, Rick
Whoa -- Roy Fritts died in June 2008?
Darn it, why am I always the last to find out about these things?
Darn it, why am I always the last to find out about these things?
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Re: Fritts, Roy, and Prescott, Rick
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TAX
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2009 (202) 514-2007
http://WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888
FORMER PROMOTER OF ABUSIVE TRUSTS PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX EVASION
Orem, Utah, Resident Was Scheduled to Begin Trial Next Week
WASHINGTON - Roderick Prescott, a resident of Orem, Utah, and a former principal of National Trust Services (NTS) in San Jose, Calif., and later Selma, Ore., pleaded guilty today to tax evasion, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Prescott admitted to evading at least $550,000 in personal income taxes for 1998 and 1999. Prescott was scheduled to begin trial on July 7, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, Ore.
According to the indictment, the plea agreement and the government’s trial brief, Prescott and his former business partner Leroy Fritts (now deceased) earned significant income from the nationwide promotion and sale of abusive trusts through NTS, which they founded in 1988. Prescott and Fritts deposited approximately $3.5 million into various bank accounts through the sale of such trusts. They also earned income from recruiting clients of NTS to invest in Fountainhead Global Trust (FGT), a purported offshore investment that promised returns as high as 50 percent per year.
According to the government’s trial brief, FGT was a Ponzi scheme which collected approximately $20 million in investors’ funds from 1995 through 1999. FGT transferred some of the money to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands at the Bank of Bermuda, ostensibly to be invested in high-interest debt through a Florida entity called “Cash 4 Titles.” Prescott and Fritts then funneled part of the money in the account back to themselves. They also took large sums of investors’ funds without ever sending the money offshore. The government asserts that instead, they spent the funds often by direct payments from FGT bank accounts on luxury goods and real estate. Eventually the scheme broke down and the vast majority of investors lost their full investments.
According to the government’s trial brief, despite making significant income from NTS and FGT, neither Prescott nor Fritts filed any individual federal income tax returns for 1998 or 1999. Prescott last filed a tax return in 1991. Prescott and Fritts used FGT money to purchase, among other items, a nearly $3 million ranch near Grants Pass, Ore., on which they began construction of two custom-built luxury log homes. The construction budget was approximately a combined $2 million, and they spent over $465,000 before halting construction in 1999. Prescott and Fritts also purchased solar panels for the ranch for over $328,000, frozen food in anticipation of a year 2000 apocalypse for over $1.1 million and numerous vehicles and other personal items.
According to the government’s trial brief, Prescott and Fritts used an array of purported trusts and related bank accounts, including numerous offshore bank accounts at the Bank of Bermuda in the Cayman Islands, to conceal their income from the IRS. Prescott and Fritts also used false or fictitious taxpayer identification numbers and offshore credit cards in fake names issued to them by the Bank of Bermuda in the Cayman Islands.
Judge Aiken scheduled sentencing for Sept. 9, 2009. Prescott faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John A. DiCicco commended the IRS-Criminal Investigation special agents who investigated the case, as well as Tax Division trial attorneys Jay Nanavati and Timothy Stockwell who prosecuted the case.
Additional information about tax fraud schemes to watch out for may be found on the IRS Criminal Investigation Web site http://www.ustreas.gov/irs/ci. Additional information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2009 (202) 514-2007
http://WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888
FORMER PROMOTER OF ABUSIVE TRUSTS PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX EVASION
Orem, Utah, Resident Was Scheduled to Begin Trial Next Week
WASHINGTON - Roderick Prescott, a resident of Orem, Utah, and a former principal of National Trust Services (NTS) in San Jose, Calif., and later Selma, Ore., pleaded guilty today to tax evasion, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Prescott admitted to evading at least $550,000 in personal income taxes for 1998 and 1999. Prescott was scheduled to begin trial on July 7, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, Ore.
According to the indictment, the plea agreement and the government’s trial brief, Prescott and his former business partner Leroy Fritts (now deceased) earned significant income from the nationwide promotion and sale of abusive trusts through NTS, which they founded in 1988. Prescott and Fritts deposited approximately $3.5 million into various bank accounts through the sale of such trusts. They also earned income from recruiting clients of NTS to invest in Fountainhead Global Trust (FGT), a purported offshore investment that promised returns as high as 50 percent per year.
According to the government’s trial brief, FGT was a Ponzi scheme which collected approximately $20 million in investors’ funds from 1995 through 1999. FGT transferred some of the money to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands at the Bank of Bermuda, ostensibly to be invested in high-interest debt through a Florida entity called “Cash 4 Titles.” Prescott and Fritts then funneled part of the money in the account back to themselves. They also took large sums of investors’ funds without ever sending the money offshore. The government asserts that instead, they spent the funds often by direct payments from FGT bank accounts on luxury goods and real estate. Eventually the scheme broke down and the vast majority of investors lost their full investments.
According to the government’s trial brief, despite making significant income from NTS and FGT, neither Prescott nor Fritts filed any individual federal income tax returns for 1998 or 1999. Prescott last filed a tax return in 1991. Prescott and Fritts used FGT money to purchase, among other items, a nearly $3 million ranch near Grants Pass, Ore., on which they began construction of two custom-built luxury log homes. The construction budget was approximately a combined $2 million, and they spent over $465,000 before halting construction in 1999. Prescott and Fritts also purchased solar panels for the ranch for over $328,000, frozen food in anticipation of a year 2000 apocalypse for over $1.1 million and numerous vehicles and other personal items.
According to the government’s trial brief, Prescott and Fritts used an array of purported trusts and related bank accounts, including numerous offshore bank accounts at the Bank of Bermuda in the Cayman Islands, to conceal their income from the IRS. Prescott and Fritts also used false or fictitious taxpayer identification numbers and offshore credit cards in fake names issued to them by the Bank of Bermuda in the Cayman Islands.
Judge Aiken scheduled sentencing for Sept. 9, 2009. Prescott faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John A. DiCicco commended the IRS-Criminal Investigation special agents who investigated the case, as well as Tax Division trial attorneys Jay Nanavati and Timothy Stockwell who prosecuted the case.
Additional information about tax fraud schemes to watch out for may be found on the IRS Criminal Investigation Web site http://www.ustreas.gov/irs/ci. Additional information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.
Demo.